White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff announced that he and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz will travel to Saudi Arabia on Sunday for discussions on ending Russia’s war against Ukraine. This marks the first official confirmation of the talks, which are expected to be some of the highest-level discussions between Russian and American officials in recent years. The goal is to pave the way for a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Ukrainian leaders and European officials have expressed disappointment over being excluded from several U.S.-Russia negotiations. Ukrainian officials have confirmed that they were not invited to the Saudi talks and have stated that they will not be bound by any agreements that arise from the discussions.
Witkoff rejected claims of Ukrainian exclusion, stating in a Fox News interview that Ukrainian officials had met with senior U.S. officials during the Munich Security Conference over the weekend. However, he did not clarify if Ukrainian representatives would be welcomed in Saudi Arabia.
Initial reports of the negotiations came out on Saturday, revealing that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio would also be part of the talks. Rubio had a phone call with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, discussing the Ukraine conflict. Both sides agreed to regular contacts to prepare for a meeting between President Putin and President Trump.
Meanwhile, France announced that it would hold a high-level European leaders’ meeting on Monday to discuss the war in Ukraine and European security, as part of an effort to respond concretely to President Trump’s approach to the conflict.
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